


Candidate

by Res



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-07-03
Updated: 2003-07-03
Packaged: 2017-10-20 22:46:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/217915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Res/pseuds/Res
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The thoughts of a candidate for a queen egg in Telgar, Fifth Pass.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Candidate

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to Search
> 
> Warnings: Implication of child abuse
> 
> Author's Notes: This was initially just a filler story for the Telgar 5 fanclub 'zine, but I ended up adopting this character and had planned several things for her... but then Telgar 5 went defunct. Ah well. I may yet write those stories!
> 
> Thanks: To Cathleen for keeping Telgar 5 going as long as she did. To Telgar 5 for giving me these wonderful characters to play with, even all these years later. And to Kristin for helping me get my stories off that old computer!

**  
"Candidate"   
**

The sand was hot. I shifted from foot to foot, fidgeting nervously. I didn't know what to expect.... I'd heard all kinds of stories. Horror stories of the babies savaging those who were waiting for them. Wonderful love stories of eyes meeting eyes, minds meeting minds, and hearts meeting hearts.

I shifted again. That sand was really hot! I cast a glance around the circle of girls with me. Most of them were fidgeting, too. A couple looked calm... but then, they'd been through this sort of thing before, for the other eggs. The eggs....

I looked at the golden egg in the center of our loose ring. It glistened and rocked in the light, the dragonet inside struggling to crack the shell as she had been for most of the Hatching. I looked up at the tiers of seats above us, filled with dignitaries and the relatives of candidates, then up, up to the rows upon rows of dragons perched around the walls of the Hatching Grounds. In front of me was the egg of their newest queen. They were humming, the sound thrumming through my bones, through the sands, encouraging the eggs to rock and crack.

Suddenly, the golden egg gave a lurch. The little dragon inside creeled impatiently as she struggled to escape her shell, and the circle of girls tightened. We watched the egg, avidly, almost predatorily. I could feel my father staring at me from the tiers above and risked a quick glance over my shoulder at him. He was leaning forward, a scowl on his face. His big meaty hands were clasped around the railing in front of him, the knuckles white.

To most people, he would have looked anxious, as if he was willing me to Impress the little dragon, like the rest of the parents around him. It wasn't true. I knew he didn't want me to Impress. If I Impressed, I would be out of his reach forever.

I shivered, remembering the last time I had been in his reach, just after the dragonrider told him that I was wanted for the Weyr. I still ached, deep inside.

The egg rocked again, more forcefully, drawing my attention back to the here-and-now. The golden shell seemed to stretch; then, slowly, it parted in a long even crack down the center of the long axis. A forest of smaller cracks spread from the first as the egg rocked again, and again, but still the little dragon did not emerge. From inside the egg came the agitated and enraged creels of a frustrated baby dragon, tired of her confinement. Suddenly, a boy fell through our circle, followed by a little bronze. Together, they fell into the golden egg, before anyone could catch them, landing hard against it. The egg shattered and the little golden dragon was free.

Free!

I moved forward, seeing my own freedom in the little dragon's whirling eyes. She looked at me, right at me! She was going to choose me! I was going to Impress and be free.... Free forever! I would never have to go back to my father, to my father's bruising hands, his use of me in my mother's place, his insane rages, his... his....

She wobbled past me. She passed me by and went on to Impress another. The girl dropped to her knees, tears of happiness running down her face as she wonderingly stroked the baby dragon's face.

Tears were running down my face, too. But they weren't tears of happiness. I closed my eyes and began to move toward the ground entrance to the Hatching Grounds. I felt sick. I knew he would be waiting there, waiting to 'comfort' me. He would take me aside, take me to a private room and....

 _Wait! Wait for me! Don't you want me? Please wait! My name is Fayth, and I love you....  
_

end


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